Rains and Nostalgia

What is it about rains and nostalgia?
No seriously, tell me, what is it?
Why does one inevitably lead to the other?
Why DO the rains always remind me of childhood?
Those innocent, happy days..
The golden days of one's life, truly..

Image courtesy: artsonearth.com

As the rains lash Mumbai, the inevitable season of traffic jams, potholes, accidents,bumpy rides, train cancellations, delays etc begins.
But so does the season of nostalgia.
As I look out through the window at the wet cobbled streets, the freshly-acquired green color of the trees, the neon umbrellas and raincoats, the dark hues of the sky, emotions stir within me.
I am magically transported to the oh-so-lovely, oh-so-wonderful days of my childhood.
How the advent of the rains would mean the start of a new academic year.

I would LOVE to go to school.

Me being me, I would have read all the school textbooks, every single page, before the first day of school.
The smell of those new books, sitting with my grandfather in the verandah and wrapping those lovely books in brown paper, pasting those colorful Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck "labels" on them.... All of it still brings a smile on my face.
Then, mom would take me to buy a new pair of the school uniform, and I use to wonder, every single year, why my school had a drab, navy uniform when other schools had orange or pink uniforms :P :)
Then would finally dawn the 13th of June, when a new academic session of the school would start. There was always a lot of curiosity around the new class teacher, the classmates - who has left and who is new?, the new classroom, who has grown taller and who has had what haircuts...And we would show off and compare our "cool stuff" like school bags, water bottles, tiffin boxes, pencil boxes etc.with the others :P. And yes, inadvertently, it would rain on that day!
The rains ensured that the school discipline was tweaked a bit. So you could wear the rainy sandals, instead of the drab, old school shoes(which meant your toes could never have nail polish :P)
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Then as we became habituated to the new and the new became old, life would become "mundane"...

Then came the junior college days...

I happened to be in a prestigious one, just a stone's throw away from home. I don't really have many memories of the rains whilst I was here, because we hardly ever went to college :P .But  I remember how we used to sit in the open library, reading novels n newspapers and comics, while others around us were immersed in log books and journals and huge textbooks, and the rains and the wind would blow away any loose papers ,and drench every single sheet. The famous Mumbai deluge of 26th July also happened during this "era" only.

Then came the engineering college days..

Ah, most memories of rains relate to the hassles in commuting in the local trains. the incessant delays and cancellations due to water-logging, taking an hour for an otherwise 20 minute commute etc.
We used to eat the oh-so-tempting unhygienic street food, and later pray that we don't fall sick.
For a change, we used to attend lectures (:P), because our regular haunts like the "khopcha" -a memorable corner on the second-floor corridor of my college. My favorite place in the college.. lots of memories associated with this place  :)-, the staircase etc. were all washed out.
Rains would mean that the walls in  some classroom would leak so much that, these classrooms would be practically unusable, so they would be vacant. These would then be our "hangout" place, where we could play all we like. And boy o boy, play we did. Some of the best memories of  my college days are the games we played- dumb charades, pictionary, the dots and lines game, Taboo cards, "the cows and bulls" game, MAFIA etc. They were the primary reason I survived those never-ending lectures :P
And those wonderful rainy picnics with friends, especially Matheran and Bhivpuri waterfalls. AMAZING!!!

College and rains are also special to me in a way, because college was when I and a pact with self, that I would re-read the entire Harry Potter series, each year, around the time of my birthday(no prizes for guessing which season it is in). It's been almost 4 years, and I still stand by this pact. In fact, I look forward to this time of the year. Nothing can take my mood down then, because I know, whatever happens, in the evening all's going to be well, since I would be in an entirely new world :)
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And today, rains give me mixed feelings. I hate it when the heavens pour down, when I am heading to work. I hate it when I get wet in the rains, when I don't want to. I hate it when I have to make my way across muddy paths. I hate it when the trees keep dripping even when the rains have stopped.

But I also love the rains, because they bring back my childhood to me.
They bring back memories of long-lost innocent times and old friendships.
They bring back memories of my school and teachers.
They bring back memories of simple, carefree times.
They inspire me to look back at the road behind with a smile, and not tears.
They motivate me to look deep within, and face the road ahead with determination and strength.
They make me cherish the past, live the present, and anticipate the future.
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And oh, they also bring with them kanda-bhaji and masala chai ;)

Paint it RED!!!

Lately I have started catching up on makeup, fashion, beauty and such other girly stuff, after being a nerd all my life.

Ok ok, I admit, a geeky nerd all my life...

And have steadily and slowly, started trying out things, that most girls try out when they are in their teens or even pre-teens (shudders!!!).

Having said that, I am not ashamed or repenting of my 'geeky nerd' past. But that's not the point of this post.

Ever since I remember, I have had short nails that are ....ummm....let’s just say NOT GOOD. They are rough and brittle, and just refuse to grow! I am seriously of the opinion that I will have to wait for a punar-janam (rebirth) to have long and pretty nails.

(Yes that's how pathetic my nails are)!

Hence I never even thought of putting red nail paint, which looks classy on long nails.

I have nail paints in all shades of pink and maroon, and even the rock chic (??!!) black but have never had the blood red one. Plus, I also sincerely thought that I didn't have the guts to pull it off well.

So the other day, I was out shopping for nail paints in bulk, for a nail art competition in my office; when I picked up a bottle of the blood red paint, for the first time ever (although not for myself). After the competition was done with, most of the girls picked up a couple of colours they liked.

For the first time ever, I made a mad dash for the red!!

Back home, I placed the bottle at a place that I happen to notice every time I am in the room. That bright red bottle kept mocking me and tempting me to pick it up,

But I was still not confident of pulling off that shade!

So last night, I mustered up all my courage, and thought 'What the heck! The whole world swears on this magical shade. I can try it at least once'. I also promised myself that if it looked ghastly on my nails, I would take it off immediately, and not allow it to see the light of the day.........umm........ like literally.

So I got myself one of my special at-home-self-manicures.

And voila, I had red nails!!

RED NAILS

RED NAILS

OHH MYYY GAWDDD (ok, I hate the way I have spelled god here, but *shrugs*. This spelling, may be very irritating, but it expresses my feelings, just about right)

 I am really really impressed with the results and how pretty this awesome colour makes my not-so-awesome nails look!!

Image courtesy: ashleewong.wordpress.com

Over the past few hours, I am slowly beginning to comprehend why ALL women love this classic shade:

- Cheapest way to feel and look classy (Oxymoron!)

- Easiest way to get dressy

- Makes you feel feminine and chic

- Looks good on all skin tones. For the longest time,

  I was of the opinion that it suits only fairer skin. Not anymore!

- Makes you look stylish

- Easily sets you in the mood

- Great way to make a statement

- Makes you appear powerful and confident

So if any of you girls out there are still feeling that they can’t carry off this bold shade, fight your fears girls!

Go paint it red! And soak in its classic beauty and glamour.
Kar lo duniya mutthi me (Hyperbole!!)

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Err, till it chips off :P

Making India safe for her daughters!

Trust me, there can be nothing as sad as the title of this post. The recent rape case of a 23-year old woman in the capital has shocked and disgusted millions. Yet, will this just be another case like the hundred-thousand rape cases before this, where we are shocked and sorrowed, but forget all about it within a week or so?

Thinking about this case, I don the introspective cap.Where do we, as a society, go wrong? Why is it that we have such callous attitudes to these heinous crimes? Is it because of the stigma attached to them? Or is it just that I-won't-bother-until-it-affects-my-life attitude? Nevertheless, this is something that cannot be, and must not be ignored. These people who commit such acts brazenly should of course, be punished, and in the harshest way, no doubt. The law will take its own course, but we should analyse the issue for its root cause.

I believe, that our society, in general is derogatory towards women. Just to cite an example, the normal content shown on Indian television(read: daily soaps and reality shows), is very sexist and male-dominated in general. We show female vamps, one female oppressing another. We openly see how girls or ladies in daily soaps,are abused, physically and emotionally, and they put up with it mutely.This content may be purely for entertainment, and coming with that clichéd disclaimer(that all the TV soaps show before the start of each episode), but it still sends out the message, loud and clear,that you can oppress and abuse and bully women, and it is okay, because it is Indian culture.
It is okay to eve-tease and catcall,whistle,hoot at women, because my brothers and friends do the same.
It is okay to not treat a woman with respect, because that's how a husband treats his wife.
It is okay to mistreat and molest any woman in public, because she is the helpless and inferior sex.
It is okay to abuse a woman, because it's fun!!
Basically, a woman is not my equal, and is someone to be abused and looked down upon, and nature has made her as such.
Till the time this thinking does not change, our nation will keep birthing generations of rapists and molesters.
It's time the psyche should change.

So what can we do, as determined(no doubt) citizens?

We should have a strong censor board, that cannot be bribed, and that keeps a check on the content in these shows. We should promote shows that depict a free society, where men and women are denoted as equals. Newspapers and other news media should exhibit responsible journalism. I often complain, that most newspapers these days, in the race for gathering maximum readership, tend to blatantly use the pen, to give out such gory details of any crime, so much so that they often tend to glorify these crimes. Many a time, they even sympathize with the criminals, saying that they were frustrated youth and this crime was a way of just venting their frustration!! (Yes, they do that!!!!!) Newspapers have a responsibility to write in a manner that imparts the message, that crime is wrong, and shall be punished, no matter what. Don't even think for a second that you can get away with it.

Parents and social media should be collectively responsible to hone young boys to be gentlemen, who respect and treat women as equals and not someone to show their dominance. Parents should instill the fear of law within young boys, and impress upon them, that women are equals, and have as much dignity and freedom, as men.As the clichéd statement goes, don't teach your daughters to dress properly, teach your son to behave properly with women(Well, something like that!) If you think you are the superior, more powerful sex, don't try to demonstrate that by using derogatory words and abusing a female. Show that by protecting her, nurturing her.

Don't raise your sons to be men she fears and detests, raise them to be gentlemen she adores and looks up to.

P.S. You may feel this is far-fetched, but as the modern society is slowly and steadily realizing, social media does indeed have a profound impact on what our future generation grows up to be.

Brag-Ended Skrewts :D

I hope u know what the title means, but in case you don't, it relates to people who can't stop bragging about themseleves :P

Okay, so I have this "friend" , who I have known since a really long time and who I run into not so often but not once in a blue moon either. Many a time, in our college days, we used to take the same train to college. So in the 20 minutes of my train travel, all I had to do was nod and say things like "Hey that's nice", "Good re", "Awesome yaar" , while she used to go yak-yak-yak about her college, her friends, her internship, her new job, her assignments etc...

I have this distant cousin, who had been to the US a couple of years back and is now in high school, preparing for her SATs to go to the US for her undergraduate degree. So whenever we meet, all I hear about is how superb the US is, and how wonderful the colleges there are, and what superb jobs she is going to get and how much she will earn, and how superb will be her lifestyle and things like that...

I know this aunty in my building and both her sons are abroad and extremely successful in their respective jobs. Aunty visits both her sons once a year, so she is abroad at least about 4-6 months a year. So whenever I chance upon meeting her, all she can talk about is how her sons are doing very well in their jobs, and how they have superb cars, and how they have a lavish lifestyle and blah-blah.

And all the time I am forced to appreciate their "awesome" life, in my mind I am wondering "God!Why is this person so self-obsessed?!!!"

Sad but true.

I wonder what is wrong such people? Are they so childish and naive that they don't even know that it is improper to go on and on about yourself?Or are they plain arrogant, that they consider everyone else below them, and consider their lives to be totally

un-"happenning"(Is that even a word??!!!) and boring? Why do they feel the compulsion to talk about themselves, when the other person is not even remotely interested? When I was a kid, I remember my grandfather telling me, that people who brag about themselves, become donkeys in their next birth :|

In the beginning, I used to get really frustrated and annoyed at such people. I had found ways and means to avoid them. So whenever I used to meet Bragging-Aunty I used to pretend I am busy on a phone call. And whenever, I used to meet my cousin at family functions, I used to purposefully avoid her. But to no avail!

I researched a lot on this topic on the net(Ya!that's how frustrated I was!) and learnt that such Braggarts are usually very insecure about themselves and more often than not, are too naive to realize that others are not interested. And the best way to handle these guys is to pay little or no attention to what they are speaking. If you ignore them, sooner or later they will get the point and buzz off! Another way is the TIT FOR TAT strategy. Well, call it shamelessness, but then only a diamond cuts diamond right?

However, if its a really serious case, then you could try Sarcasm. This, I believe, is the most effective tool, but it is a double-edged sword. Some thick-skinned and empty-brained idiots may take offence at what you say, and you are at the risk of spoiling your relations with them forever. If you are to resort to this tool, I suggest you use it carefully. A little caution always helps!

All the best. Hope you find a way to deal with such Brag-Ended Skrewts!

P.S. I used this tactic of subtle sarcasm to handle all the three cases mentioned here. The most hilarious one was with my "train friend"(friend1). I had already told one of my friends(friend2) about her. And one day, I happened to be with both of them at the same time. This was around the time I got a job. So when friend1 started yak-yaking about herself, friend2 interrupted and went on and on about how we both got a job, and our job profile and blah-blah. To any non-engineer, it would really be frustrating to hear about this job in excruciating detail. And I don't know whether friend1 was smart enough to get the point or whether she felt offended

about her own policy being rebounded on her, but she accepted the fact and after this, I have never ever been the victim of her bragging. Sometimes, I do feel sorry for her, but then, serves her right doesn't it?

P.P.S. It may not sound all that funny when I told the above story, but it was really funny when it happenned, all right??!!!

Salaam Sachin

Never, not even in my wildest dreams, had I ever thought that I would, someday, blog about sports. The reason for this being my abysmally low knowledge of sports and my total disinterest in most forms of sport.

But, here I am today, blogging about sports, about cricket, about Sachin Tendulkar. The reason, of course, is Sachin creating history, just a couple of days back when he became the first batsman in the world to hit a double hundred in a one day international, that too against South Africa, one of the best teams in the world. Truly, ‘Sachin is God’.

I have always admired Sachin, for much better and much bigger reasons than his cricketing genius. He exemplifies true sportsmanship. Even after twenty years in international cricket, he still shows the enthusiasm, spirit, zeal and energy that he did as a twenty year old. He is a person who creates new records and breaks existing records, every time he goes on to bat and yet remains modest and humble. Almost every time Sachin is criticized for his poor play, he performs like a phoenix rising out of the ashes, and silences his critics. And countless times, players of the opponent team have abused him verbally, and yet he has never lost his cool. He has answered their slaying with his bat. And so many records and runs later, he is still the same invincible Sachin, approachable to anyone who needs help. He is a thorough team man, and plays for his team rather than himself; he is dejected when the team loses even after he gives a splendid performance. And in spite of being the number 1 cricketer in the world, he never misses a day of practice.

And last but not the least; he is a Mumbaikar to the core. Even today, whenever he finds time, he still plays first-class domestic cricket for Mumbai, with most of his team mates half his age, who have grown up watching him play. He has inspired millions of cricket fans nationwide and worldwide and is the face of Indian Cricket today. It won’t be wrong to say that the Indian cricket team still depends upon him, to a certain extent.

Being the genius that he is, is never easy. Despite his simple ways, he still manages to attract some controversies. But just as we would expect somebody of his stature to be, Sachin is unfazed and unaffected by them. People, who try to malign his reputation, are the ones, whose reputation gets affected; because Sachin enjoys a special place in peoples’ hearts. And nothing and nobody can ever change that. It will indeed be a sad day for cricket, when Sachin decides to retire. And till then, may the master-blaster hit many thousands of runs and win many millions of hearts. Jai Ho, Sachin.

Interesting one-liners

God wanted to play cricket, so Sachin was born.

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If you want to commit any sins, do so while Sachin is batting. Because the Lord won’t notice your sins, when he is busy playing cricket.

P for Punctuality

Addressed to no one in particular but everyone in general



I watch the clock - ticking out its time.

I hear the gears - tocking till the chime…

I hold my stare acutely

And focus ears astutely.

The whole gestalt of this assault by me on clock

Collapses in to hence become

A new me-time continuum -

This clock and I, a vacuum -

Dial and me, we've come to be

A synergistic, fatalistic victim, hmm…




‘So true, so very true!’ I remarked, reading these words that Mark Slaughter has so beautifully penned. In an instant, I remembered all those countless times when I have felt these exact emotions. When I have had to wait for someone somewhere and that someone did not even bother to inform me that he/she was going to be late. When I have had to wait, panting, for the next train to arrive at the station while I had missed the previous train by just a whisker. When I have had to wait for someone to reply to my sms, that was accompanied by a ‘reply ASAP’. When I have had to wait for the webpage to download when I was checking my University results. Gosh! How I hate waiting!



Waiting for someone is one of the things I hate the most! ‘hate’ is actually an understatement, ‘despise’ is more like it. Personally, I feel, there is no other torture in the world like enduring other peoples’ stares (and unspoken thoughts) while they are going about their activities and I am forced to keep standing (or sitting, if I am lucky) in waiting, one eye on the watch and the other on the ‘red carpet’ along which the ‘esteemed Chief Guest’ is destined to make a grand entry! And I get all the more irritated if that ‘distinguished, honorary Man-Of-The-Moment’ arrives late, doesn’t even bother to apologize and makes some lame excuses or worse, doesn’t even acknowledge that he/she is late. And the icing on the cake is when His/Her Majesty just rolls his/her eyes and says something like ‘Come on, don’t you know me? Am I not always this late?’ or ‘I am just following Indian Standard Time’.



I personally disrespect anybody who has no regard for other peoples’ time. The question to ask is, why should you always be this late? Why be late at all? Isn’t there anything in the world called ‘time management’? Cliched though it may sound, this is one of the important factors that determine man’s success in life. When it was known to you that you have to meet someone at some place at say 6 in the evening, and knowing the time it will take you to travel to that place, can’t you start on time? Can’t you get dressed in time? Before you leave or start getting dressed, can’t you make all the arrangements so that you don’t have to rush at the eleventh hour? How is it that you reach the airport or the railway station on time, in fact may be even an hour early, when you have a flight/train to catch, but are almost always late by at least 30 minutes when you have to go out with a friend? Is it simply because that someone is a ‘friend’ and that you don’t lose anything when you are late for this appointment, so why bother to be on time? Since there is no punishment in sight for being late for an appointment with a friend, ‘It’s Okay’ to be late, isn’t it?



What sadistic pleasure do you derive by making someone wait for you? Does it make you seem important? Or someone who is sought after? Repeatedly being late, I feel, is the habit of people who have no better thing to do in life. There is no other way that can make them feel important and sought by others. They do not have any other way in which they can make others remember them or think about them. Doesn’t matter even if the other person curses them, just the thought that he/she is thinking about them is enough. For heaven’s sake, get a life man!



Never, my friend, never ever have a disregard for anybody’s time, be it a friend or anybody else. Life is too short to lose waste time being away from a loved one. If that person is waiting for you patiently and devotedly, it means he/she loves you and you have no right to put his/her love to test, in this way. Every minute that you are late, your friend is losing his love and respect for you. And you never know, it may cease to exist one day. And then, there is no use crying over the split milk.



Being late for an appointment be it professional or personal, is an unpardonable offence in western countries. Do not let this become a routine or a habit. Once the habit of being late sets in, it may become difficult to mend ways. This habit could land you in trouble, could cost you your job, or worse, your life. And, it is not always circumstances, which are responsible for such actions. You were late, not because your mom did not wake you up, but because you overslept. You were late, not because your alarm failed to go off, but because you kept ‘putting it on snooze’. You were late, not because the trains were late but, because you didn’t start on time. Don’t you realize my friend, that it was your fault in the first place and, the circumstances, just added to all the misery. Always remember, you, and you alone are responsible for all your actions. In the end no one bothers why you were late for that all-important interview. The fact is you were late and it cost you the most challenging opportunity life had presented you. Opportunity had knocked your door, but you just did not open it in time.




P.S. This does not imply that I am ‘Miss Perfect’ or the ‘epitome of punctuality’. I am also late on a number of occasions and I honestly regret all those moments during which I test my friends’ patience. But I am trying hard, really hard, to improve and hope you do the same.

Get Set and Go!

Yes!!!!!!

This one word has made me an official blogger. I now own my own blog (stating the obvious!) and needless to say, it is special for me. For once, I now have something rather some place to sprawl the strangest of my feelings, the deepest of my thoughts, the darkest of my emotions and all of these without being afraid of anything or anybody. I now have a web space that I can proudly call my own, I can now laugh and cry, be proud and be jealous, be pleased and be disgusted, be surprised and be shocked, be euphoric and be dejected, be victorious and be defeated…..and all this, just through words…..words that convey my thoughts, my feelings, my emotions, my sentiments.

Being an engineering student, I am pretty used to the practice of beginning any article by answering questions like what, why, how, when etc. So, first things first….

What is this blog about?

For me this blog is a space to rant on and on and on (infinitely) about things that I want to say but nobody wants to hear. Things that may seem boring to others but seem really interesting to me. Things that others laugh about, but really touch me. Things that may seem worthless to others but seem pretty important and worthwhile to me.

Conclusively, this blog is about anything and everything under the sun that catches my attention or for that matter, fails to catch my attention(pun intended)!And, you never know, in the future, it could also include “tech-stuff”.

Why am I doing this?

Honestly, I don’t even care if this blog has no readers.

For me, my blog is “the extra segment “(“tech-stuff”) of my memory. This is the part of my “segmented memory” to store (in words), all those pent-up feelings and thoughts that clog my mind, so that my mind becomes free to come up with more of such stupid and useless thoughts (hehe) and some weird and crazy ideas.

I also aspire to address certain issues that are close to my heart, but I don’t know the right medium and the right audience for the same.

And last but not the least, I want my thoughts, to induce some thoughts in the minds of my readers.

How will I be doing this?

(I know this question is quite incorrectly framed, but I could not think of any other way to put it. So that’s that.). I intend not to plagiarize any content from any source. . Any content, borrowed from any source shall be duly acknowledged. If the author is unknown, it shall be mentioned likewise. .I shall try to avoid getting into any kinds of conflicts with any one or any controversies regarding any issue. I shall try to see that no factual errors crop up in any of my articles. I shall try my level best not to hurt any individual’s or organization’s feelings or sentiments or interests in any way.

When will I be doing this?

Truly speaking, whenever I feel like. My two consecutive posts may be minutes apart, hours apart, days apart, weeks apart or even months apart. If at any point of time, any thought crosses my mind or an issue touches my heart, it shall appear here. If not for anything else, at least for future reference for my own self.

I am always open to any kind of recommendations, criticisms and suggestions of any kind. You may leave it as a comment for that particular article.

Last but not the least (how cliched this sounds!), I sincerely hope you don’t count the time spent on this blog as time wasted.

P.S. I am really happy that, unknowingly and unintentionally, I have inaugurated this blog with the word “YES”. It definitely is a sign of positivity.